Dreamland
by CPDSVU
Summary: A short one-shot on what would've happened if Hailey's hit to the head in "Ghosts" (5x18) had sent her down for the count, and Jay found her in the stairwell. Based on a scene from Tracy's old NBC show, "Revolution" where her character dreams of an old relationship – Garrett will be used in this case in her dream sequence. Still Upstead though!


**A/N: One of my friends showed me a scene from Tracy's previous NBC show _Revolution_, and it happened to be set in a stairwell, much like the end fight scene from 5x18 "Ghosts" was. And my friend had mentioned that if you put Jay in where Billy Burke's character was in _Revolution_, then there could be something to work with. So, I ran with it. Just what would've happened if Hailey's hit to the head had left her down for the count, and Jay found her like that. A short one shot – hope you guys like it. **

* * *

"_Hailey...Hailey,"_

_She could hear a voice, but she couldn't put a face to it yet. It wasn't until his features came into full view that she knew who it was._

"_Garrett, what're you doing here?" She asked him. She hadn't seen him in months since his undercover mission was blown. He had gone dark, and even though they were partners, he had been shutting her out because of it._

"_I'm not really here," he whispered, his eyes locking with hers intently. He made the "shhh" motion with his finger, which made Hailey roll her eyes._

"_Yeah yeah, okay. I get it. But why didn't you tell me you were back?"_

"_I couldn't, Hailey."_

"_Why not?" She could feel the panic settle into her tone of voice._

"_Because I couldn't face you. I shouldn't even be here... I'm not, we're not...we're not who we used to be."_

_She ran to him, placing a hand against his cheek. "How can you say that? I'm right here. You're here. We're together again, aren't we?"_

_His hand found hers, and just when she thought he was going to lean in to her touch, or lace his hand with her, he pulled it away altogether._

_No. This can't be happening. Not again._

"_Garrett," she choked out. "Garrett, please!" She felt the sadness in her voice._

Little did she know she wasn't the only begging for someone to stay.

* * *

"Hailey, Hailey please, please...open your eyes." Jay begged once more.

He couldn't believe he was so stupid as to let her go get Booth on her own. God, he was an idiot. _And now look at what happened_, his mind berated.

He cupped her cheek, using the other hand to sweep the hair out of the way to get a better look at her injury.

Dammit, there was quite a bit of blood. That would leave a nasty bruise tomorrow. _At least it was only a surface wound, nothing a few stitches couldn't fix, _he reasoned.

He already had Booth cuffed to the opposite side of the stairwell while he tended to Hailey. The bastard. Jay would've continued to beat on him if Hailey hadn't already done a number on him before she went down herself.

"Guess she wasn't as tough as I thought," Booth spat, that same maniacal laugh on his tongue.

Jay's eyes grew fiery, his vision went completely red.

"You son of a bitch," he ground out, giving Booth a roundhouse kick. "You did this, and I swear to God, if she doesn't wake up, I'll show you how tough the Chicago police are."

Booth could only cough, so Jay was satisfied that shut him up for the time being.

He turned his attention back to his partner, who was still lying unconscious on the stairs. She hadn't even moved a muscle. Not one.

"Hailey? Hailey, _please_. You've gotta wake up. You've gotta open your eyes." He could hear his voice breaking slightly, but he didn't care.

He needed her to be okay. Despite all their tensions over this case, he knew she was right — to not want to give this case up. He was as stubborn as she was, and he had proved just that when he refused to let the drug case and Camila go.

But it was Hailey who brought him back down to Earth, and helped him see that it was hurting him more than helping him. He was only trying to return the favor.

But now, all he could think about as he looked at her was, I never got to tell you I was sorry. And he was, truly truly sorry for saying those things that hurt her:

_But forget that, I have a problem with it. If I can't trust you, I can't do my job..._

_You can't trust me? Are you kidding me?_

_Hailey, you're way too emotional!_

_I'm not emotional!_

_This isn't even about me!_

_Then what is it?_

He knew those words cut into her like a knife in her back. He could see the way she was taken aback by his words. He saw the gears turning in her head, thinking: how can I come up with the perfect response, one that doesn't show what's really going on...

_Please, I need this._

He had nodded, understanding her, even if he didn't agree with it. Because she did the same for him. And they were partners: that's what they did for each other. He owed her that much.

He decided that now was as good a time as any to tell her his apology. He didn't know if he'd get another chance.

"Still not awake huh? Guess I really did a number on her?" Booth's voice jarred Jay yet again.

"Listen, you smug sick son of a bitch. I will personally put you six feet under right now if you don't stop with these fucked up head games of yours. If I find out you did more to Hailey than knock her down, I will _personally_ drag you out to the silos myself, you understand?"

Ronald only smirked, showing off a bloodied set of teeth. Jay grimaced, tossing the prick back down to the ground. He heard the door open, praying it was that ambulance he had called for 5 mins ago.

But it wasn't. It was patrol, there to scoop up Booth. _Dammit_. Oh well, Jay would take the small win for now. Besides, he didn't mind it just being him and Hailey for a moment. He needed it to say what he should've said a long time ago.

* * *

"_I'm sorry Hailey," he said._

"_No, please!" She cried to him. He couldn't leave her. Not again. She had fought so hard to get him back._

"_Hailey, listen to me," he said, his voice suddenly firmer than she remembered. "You've gotta go now too, okay?"_

_Her eyes were wide as saucers as she took in his words. "No, no I'm not going anywhere."_

"_**Hailey**__!" Garrett said harshly. "You don't belong here, not anymore. And not with me. Don't you see? This...this isn't real. We're not real anymore."_

_She felt her brows knit together in confusion. "What're you— what do you mean? Of course we're real, we're here, aren't we?"_

_Instead of backing up like she expected, Garrett took a couple steps forward. He cupped her cheek, ran a hand softly over her hair, brushing it out of the way._

_She sucked in a breath when his fingers traced over the scrape on her forehead._

"I'm sorry, Hailey. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have let you go it alone. I shouldn't have said your emotions got in the way of this...of us."

She could've sworn it was Garrett's lips that were moving, but she didn't recognize his voice anymore. But she did know whose voice it belonged to.

Jay.

"Jay?" She breathed, watching as Garrett's silhouette faded away.

The words continued: "I just, you've gotta know that our partnership means a lot to me, Hailey. And I'm sorry if I ever made you doubt that. Please, please you've gotta wake up so I can fix this. I want to be better for you. Please," he begged.

She didn't feel sad when she lost Garrett's form. She finally knew what he meant by they weren't real anymore.

Because Jay was real. Her partnership with him was real. And here. And now. And that's what she needed to focus on.

"Hailey?" Jay tried one last time before he was about ready to give in to his own emotions.

He couldn't lose her. Hell, he'd barely gotten to know her. And there was so much more he needed to tell her. So much more he wanted her to tell him. It couldn't end like this. Not for them.

He traced his finger over the scrape on her forehead, running his fingers through her hair absentmindedly to check and make sure there wasn't injury to the back of her head.

There wasn't, and he exhaled sharply. A tear dropped down from his eyes, and before he could catch it, it had landed on her cheek.

Hailey thought it was Garrett's hand that caressed her face, but she realized it had been Jay all along.

She could feel the warmth of his touch when his thumb brushed her cheekbone. She had felt a raindrop — or what felt like one anyway — and so she wondered if it was time to wake up now. Before the storm hit. Maybe she and Jay would make it out together.

She slowly felt her eyes open, and sure enough, there he was.

His pale green eyes instantly brightened amongst seeing her vivid blue ones.

"Hailey," he breathed. "Thank god you're alright, I—"

He stopped when he felt her grab his hand. He thought she wanted help up, but instead she intertwined their fingers, giving his hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

"Thank you." She stated. She softly smiled at him, and was so grateful to get to see him smile back.

She wouldn't have known what to do without him. Yes, this case stirred up a lot of ghosts, but beyond all the hauntings of her past, came Jay.

And he was her present, and hopefully her future. He was real, not a part of her dream world. And for that she couldn't be happier.


End file.
